# Where/what is the physical infrastructure for huge cloud servers, Microsoft, Google, Amazon Web, eg? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495 "2015-10-13T00:19:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495/21 "2015-10-13T16:48:12Z")
Google has an interactive [virtual tour of one of their data centers here](https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/streetview/). You can do a walkthrough online. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495/22 "2015-10-13T17:14:22Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Yes, I remember–and kind of had a vague picture (there are pictures)–the NSA facility recently built out West somewhere. Consumes the electrical power or some cities, etc. It’s in Utah. I don’t know how fresh this info is[from the Wik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Data_Center): The planned structure provides 1 to 1.5 million square feet (90,000 - 140,000 m2),[19][20][21] with 100,000 square feet (9,000 m2) of data center space and more than 900,000 square feet (84,000 m2) of technical support and administrative space.[7][19] It is projected to cost $1.5-2 billion.[3][7][19][22][23] A report suggested that it will cost another $2 billion for hardware, software, and maintenance.[19] The completed facility is expected to require 65 megawatts of electricity, costing about $40 million per year.[7][19] The facility is expected to use 1.7 million gallons (6435 m3) of water per day.[24] An article by Forbes estimates the storage capacity as between 3 and 12 exabytes in the near term, based on analysis of unclassified blueprints, but mentions Moore’s Law, meaning that advances in technology could be expected to increase the capacity by orders of magnitude in the coming years.[2] Toward the end of the project’s construction it was plagued by electrical problems in the form of “massive power surges”[25] that damaged equipment.[17] This delayed its opening by a year.[25] ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495/23 "2015-10-14T12:55:40Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Another point not yet mentioned is that theses data centers often use custom designed server hardware. Rather than using off the shelf stuff, it is optimized for the company and work at hand - just to squeeze out that last bit of power and efficiency. That will be the case for monolithic data centres like Google or Facebook. I’ve been in data centres for a major UK retailer and a European bank and they are a mixed bag of hardware from different vendors. They’ll usually include one or more IBM mainframes, dedicated hardware for their Unix flavour of choice (Solaris, HPUX, or AIX), and racks full of generic x86 boxes running virtual machines. Then there will be storage arrays from EMC or similar, and a tape library or two. ---
**Author:** ![lurcio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b77776/32.png) [@lurcio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurcio)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495/24 "2015-10-14T16:08:21Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t get where Google/Alphabet finds all it’s money, unless from interest and investment elsewhere, since it’s core business is advertising, and although most people use Google services, they don’t buy enough stuff from advertisers to pay for all this… If the capitalist/advertising model falters just once, wouldn’t it start to unravel ? [https://investor.google.com/financial/tables.html](https://investor.google.com/financial/tables.html) Seems like people DO buy that much advertising. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495/25 "2015-10-14T16:14:23Z")
Besides, if the “capitalist/advertising model falters”, we’re all in big trouble, beyond that of one company. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495/26 "2015-10-14T16:36:04Z")
And don’t think it won’t. However the intertwining of advertising into the capitalist system seems now overweening; it should be a handmaiden, not a wife. Anyway, from the same place as my previous link: [**AP: States Issued $1.5B in Data Center Tax Breaks over Past Decade**](http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2015/09/30/ap-states-issued-1-5b-in-data-center-tax-breaks-over-past-decade/) _Data centers have become something state and local economic-development officials pursue, and tax incentives are one of the things they leverage to attract them. Data center developers examine a long list of factors during the site-selection process, and availability of tax breaks is high on the list, along with things like cost of energy, fiber-optic network infrastructure, climate, population density, cost of real estate, and risk of natural disasters._ _At least 23 states have passed legislation to provide data center tax breaks specifically, the AP said. Another 16 have offered incentives to data center developers through general economic-development programs._ If they’re not giving a lot of taxes, nor a lot of jobs, I’m guessing the states are going for prestige. Anyhow, protectionism rocks. _Sweden has been providing lower tax rates to industries that are both energy-intensive and exposed to international competition. The rationale is that some industries, such as manufacturing, find it difficult to compete with foreign companies if they’re taxed too heavily at home. The study found that data centers, a young industry, are worthy of such “protection.”_ [**Study: Sweden Should Lower Taxes for Data Centers**](http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2015/10/12/study-sweden-should-provide-data-center-tax-breaks/) ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495/27 "2015-10-14T17:25:12Z")
Amazon’s been investing in wind power for its new data centers. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495/28 "2015-10-14T17:50:48Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > Amazon’s been investing in wind power for its new data centers. Likewise, Apple has invested a lot in solar. > **[Apple’s $850M solar plant rockets it to first place among U.S. corporations](https://www.computerworld.com/article/1635657/apples-850m-solar-plant-rockets-it-to-first-place-among-us-corporations.html)** > > Apple, which has been deploying solar power for years, this week announced another $850M investment, giving it capacity that will push it past Walmart as the largest corporate user of solar energy. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495/29 "2015-10-14T18:34:06Z")
Here are some of them in my neck of the woods: https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=47.2487266,-119.8206718&z=15&output=embed&dg=ntvb And a recent article: > **[Yahoo will double size of Quincy operation](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/oct/08/yahoo-will-double-size-of-quincy-operation/)** > > Yahoo said Monday it will add about 300,000 square feet and thousands of servers to its 8-year-old Quincy facility. The expansion will effectively double the size of the company’s operation at the junction of Road P NW and Road 11 NW and add an... ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495/30 "2015-10-15T06:55:39Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > If they’re not giving a lot of taxes, nor a lot of jobs, I’m guessing the states are going for prestige. Anyhow, protectionism rocks. I don’t think it’s prestige or protectionism, but rather that it is the jobs. It’s true that they don’t generate a lot of jobs, at least in the long term. And the few dozen workers in a large city won’t do much for that size economy. But in a small place like Quincy WA or Prineville OR, they’re more significant. Not huge, but not trivial either. The construction jobs, while temporary, also help small economies more than large ones. And several of them seem to be periodically expanding, so more construction work. So I say it is the jobs. The fact that they’re steady jobs not subject to changes in the economy or foreign competition like a wood products factory, for example, is a definite plus. Many small communities have been periodically hurt by such things, especially when (as they so frequently are) the community is dependent on a single industry. There’s a bit of dispute above about whether there are a lot of them in the Pacific Northwest. We do have a fair number here, but probably no more than in the Southeast, for example. Or Scandinavia. For several reasons, it’s important for companies to spread their data centers around rather than concentrate them in one area. So a large company like Apple or [del]Google[/del] Alphanumeric will have a number of them spread around the world. One of them, serving the west coast (more or less) will be in the Northwest. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495/31 "2015-10-15T07:08:45Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > The facility is expected to use 1.7 million gallons (6435 m3) of water per day. Can anyone think of the reasoning for this? Is it part of the cooling system somehow? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495/32 "2015-10-16T03:02:47Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Can anyone think of the reasoning for this? Is it part of the cooling system somehow? Yes. Exactly that. Next to power, water for cooling is the most important thing in keeping a data center up. We have 3 giant evap towers here for a modest sized data center of about 30,000 sq ft that chill water to the AC’s, of which we have 11 30 ton units running 24X7. At max load, we can only shut down 1 or 2 at a time before the temperatures get noticeably warmer. Though we’ve gotten rid of a LOT of older power hungry systems so we are actually starting to experiment with keep 1 off and in standby to save a few $. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-what-is-the-physical-infrastructure-for-huge-cloud-servers-microsoft-google-amazon-web-eg/734495.md?page=1)